“But you did not know it was his.”
“True, I did not know it, but I guessed it. I may as well explain that though I was only one of a party who discovered and rescued your father, I alone found the gold dust. Being found so near your father, I at once came to the conclusion that it was his, and resolved to devote so much of the income of it as might be needed to his support and welfare. I found a poor but worthy family, to whom the sum paid for his maintenance would be an important help, and I placed him in their charge. He is with them now.”
“Is there no hope of his recovering his mind?” asked Tom, anxiously.
“The doctor says that anything which will recall his old life may restore his lost faculties. I think your presence, and what you could tell him of your mother, and his old home, may have a very important influence upon him.”
“Then I must go to him as soon as I can,” said Tom.
“Your eagerness is natural. A week hence I shall myself return. If you will wait till then I shall be able to introduce you to his presence. He knows me, and considers me his friend.”
“Dr. Spooner,” said Tom, “I shall be sorry to leave you and Mr. Brush, but I feel that I ought to go to my father as soon as possible.”
“Of course, of course, Tom,” said Peter; “but we sha’n’t be separated. We will all go together.”
“So say I,” said Dr. Lycurgus Spooner.